Above is a pic of my youngest daughter and me.
My Husband, My brother in Christ
NOT ashamed
Like I wrote to Carla,
"Happy, if with my latest breath
I may but gasp His name;
(Proclaim) Him to all, and cry in death,
"BEHOLD, BEHOLD the Lamb!"
THose are words in a Charles Wesley hymn. I put "proclaim" in perentheses because it actually says "Preach"... and ya know, since God did not ordain women to be preachers and I wanted this song to apply to women, I thought it best I put "proclaim" instead.
Tim Challies made a must-read post today called Boldness is Our Birthright. Here are my thoughts on it:
What struck me in this post was Tim's comment: "Jesus Christ gives boldness to His people. It is not a rash and arrogant boldness that takes refuge in our own intellectual capacities, but a boldness that what God reveals of Himself through Scripture is real and right and true and knowable. It is a confidence that we, simple human beings, can know and understand God."
I am not saying that I hope everyone is diagnosed with cancer or MS so that they will understand what a precious thing it is... a privilege it is to proclaim boldly the truth of Christ without compromise.... The Lord ordained such a trial as MS in my life to wake me up.
However, (as my pastor has pointed out) even growth in Christ is directed by the sovereign hand of God (and yet this does not strip us of our responsibilty to boldly proclaim Him.) No, we should never be ashamed of where we are in Christ unless we have something to be ashamed of. And honestly, what we should be ashamed of is not proclaiming Him boldly in our lives, how we live, in our words. Truly and by the grace of God, I pray that we comprehend this privilege daily.
The Bible is not a narrative as Mr. McLaren boldly proclaims it is. Mr McLaren is defacing who God is and supressing what God has revealed in His Word of truth and His creation. The Bible is the very Word of God. And may we never be ashamed to proclaim Him.
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died; my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
If you can read this hymn and not want to weep, than you need to consider examining your faith.
"Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image?" --John Piper
Comments
What a wonderful hymn. So full of rich theology. It's sad that so many of these gems have fallen by the wayside or even worse, changed to become more palatable to our seeker sensitive generation.
Posted by: Tonya | April 10, 2006 01:59 PM
I like this hymn very much. I always have. Another is "There is a fountain filled with Blood" by William Cowper. I believe if our worship and praise glorifies anyone or anything other than God then it is nothing. Worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth is worshipping Him with our entire being (in Spirit) while adhereing to God ordained worship guidlines from the Bible (in truth)
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
Posted by: Mike Ratliff | April 10, 2006 02:45 PM
So true Tonya. One of my favorites... so rich.
Well... exactly Mike R. Exactly.
Posted by: 4ever4given | April 10, 2006 07:33 PM